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Pop culture convention Edmonton Expo 2012 will tumble into town Saturday Oct. 20 and Sunday Oct. 21, bringing with it entertainment icons such as Batman TV series star Adam West and Billy Dee Williams, best known as Lando Calrissian from the Star Wars trilogy.

The film, television, comics, gaming, anime, horror and science fiction event is a first for Edmonton. Fans will get a chance to attend the convention’s workshops and panels, and hear from some of their favourite pop culture icons.

Edmonton Expo is spearheaded by the superheroes behind the Calgary Expo, Canada’s second largest comic-con, and the Edmonton Collectible Toy & Comic Show.

The full guest lineup will be announced in the coming weeks.

__________________“You have to dream big. If we want to be a little city, we dream small. If we want to be a big city, we dream big, and this is a big idea.” - Mayor Stephen Mandel, 02/22/2012

Pop culture convention Edmonton Expo 2012 will tumble into town Saturday Oct. 20 and Sunday Oct. 21, bringing with it entertainment icons such as Batman TV series star Adam West and Billy Dee Williams, best known as Lando Calrissian from the Star Wars trilogy.

The film, television, comics, gaming, anime, horror and science fiction event is a first for Edmonton. Fans will get a chance to attend the convention’s workshops and panels, and hear from some of their favourite pop culture icons.

Edmonton Expo is spearheaded by the superheroes behind the Calgary Expo, Canada’s second largest comic-con, and the Edmonton Collectible Toy & Comic Show.

The full guest lineup will be announced in the coming weeks.

Interesting. Yes, it would have been best if this had been started by Edmontonians but the Calgary Comic Expo is such an unabashed success, they must have a lot of clout with bookings, and thus we will stand better chances of getting top names if the event is successful over time. Also it's six months after the Calgary Expo, so it looks like they're giving themselves time to focus on each event.

Billy Dee Williams and Adam West may not be top shelf, but it's starting from scratch.

Word around certain geek campfires said they were attempting to get the original Star Wars cast here, hence the Billy Dee Williams appearance. Will have to see who else they can snag, but I think it will mostly be comic book creators.

Oh, man. If this convention could somehow attract Anthony Bourdain, I would go. It sounds like they are working very hard to bring in some big names. Last year, the mother of Dexter's baby was the main guest.

Oh, man. If this convention could somehow attract Anthony Bourdain, I would go. It sounds like they are working very hard to bring in some big names. Last year, the mother of Dexter's baby was the main guest.

Anthony Bourdain does comic expos??? I know many people who would go for him alone.

He appeared at Comic Con 2012. I just visited his website. It appears his "North" American tour does not begin until November 1st. PERFECT opportunity for the team behind this convention to inquire about Bourdain's services.

At the very least, I hope his tour -which does not include any Canadian stops at the moment- comes to Edmonton. Who am I kidding, though. It will likely just include Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.

Interesting. Yes, it would have been best if this had been started by Edmontonians but the Calgary Comic Expo is such an unabashed success, they must have a lot of clout with bookings, and thus we will stand better chances of getting top names if the event is successful over time. Also it's six months after the Calgary Expo, so it looks like they're giving themselves time to focus on each event.

Billy Dee Williams and Adam West may not be top shelf, but it's starting from scratch.

Yes and No.

I think it's great that there is work putting together a show for Edmonton. Who cares if it's folks from Calgary? They have the experience - just like people from our Folk Fest are helping out in Calgary, etc, etc.

Now, that said, there are other markets itching for a convention in Canada. *cough* video games *cough* Unfortunately I got distracted by a doctoral program

Wasn't the Calgary convention an unmitigated disaster this year? Rooms closed due to overcrowding, too many tickets sold, 4-6 hour wait for meet and greets for people who had previously purchased tickets, etc.

I guess they refunded money for those who were not able to get to their paid meet and greets due to long line ups or overcrowding, but I think they had to else face a big lawsuit. Friends that went said it was close to riot.

As for the Calgary 'disaster' this year I think there was a large jump in attendance but the organizers REALLY should have seen it coming. Hulloo.....first time the TNG cast has been reunited in something like 15 years....of course there will be an attendance spike!

I took it in today , quite impressed. I confess that I do not have much pop culture nerd in me , but my family certainly does. This event is well attended and certainly has vast potential to grow. Great to catch a glimpse of the celebrities , but really great to see the effort people put into their costumes. There certainly is a pop culture phenomenon happening here. With the timing of this event in October , there would be a natural tie into the local Deadfest and Zombie culture also to make this even a bigger event .

I found the program guide well and entertainingly written , except I suspect they might have copied and pasted the bit about referring lost children to "stampede" staff.

Oddly enough , with the new Expo centre I do not think that they had adequate enough food service capacity for this event as the line ups were long.

We went down today. The attendance was impressive. We had great time shopping the booths and went the GWAR session.

The promotional material is definitely reused from the Calgary Expo but at this stage I don't have a problem with that. It saves a lot of design costs and helps things get ramped up without looking amateurish. I hope this year is successful enough to make things even better next year.

We'll see how things go but the room for expansion in Edmonton far exceeds what Calgary has so in the long run Edmonton could become the bigger event.

Parking is a non-issue given the number of parkades in the vicinity plus the lot by Louise McKinney. I don't want to turn this thread into yet another debate about parking downtown though, there's 14 other threads on that already.

I am concerned more about number of people.

__________________“You have to dream big. If we want to be a little city, we dream small. If we want to be a big city, we dream big, and this is a big idea.” - Mayor Stephen Mandel, 02/22/2012

The last show at the shaw was smaller and it was packed so I don't think it would make sens to go back to the Shaw. As a vender at this show I was quite impressed with how it was run for everyone looking at it on a business side of things. Can't wait for the next show.

Calgary Expo is ramping up now. Just announced former Edmontonian Nathan Fillion. Already announced are a slew of other guests from across the spectrum, from Star Wars to Dr. Who to X-Files. I'm hoping a few more Firefly people come down but a Nathan session will be great on its own as well. Also looking forward to a possible Princess Bride session. Animations sessions are always fun too.

I'm very pleased the organizers are doing both Edmonton and Calgary now. They've built a great show in Calgary and the success of their first run Edmonton bodes well for this fall.

We're going and taking the kids. I think we'll be spending a lot of time in the drawing and writing sessions plus they're going to get to meet one of their favourite comic writers and artists, Jim Gownley. For me there will be Ron Perlman!

I'm probably going to have to turn in my Geek Cred card for this, but not a lot of names I recognize...I only know Christopher Lloyd, Robert Englund, Ron Perlman and Karl Urban. The lineup of comic book creators is meh, but I'm glad there's a focus on local guys. And no, it's not THAT Bob Layton! Hopefully one year they can get Todd McFarlane here, given his past ties to the Oilers. Hopefully the con keeps getting bigger and better with subsequent years.

__________________“You have to dream big. If we want to be a little city, we dream small. If we want to be a big city, we dream big, and this is a big idea.” - Mayor Stephen Mandel, 02/22/2012

There was a massive line for passes, which went out the building and halfway across the exhibition lands, which thankfully moved quickly. They were sold out, so good thing I got my advance tix. The cosplay was magnificant, there was plenty of swag to buy, and several celebrities to see such as these two:

I did take in Karl Urban's Q&A...very funny guy, and the ladies seemed charmed by him. He said Edmonton reminded him of New Zealand and vowed to come back for another visit. Huge lineups to see Robert Englund and Ron Perlman.

Going back tomorrow to buy some stuff...I hear tickets for tomorrow are scarce.

__________________“You have to dream big. If we want to be a little city, we dream small. If we want to be a big city, we dream big, and this is a big idea.” - Mayor Stephen Mandel, 02/22/2012

Actually I was on topic. I wasn't talking about restaurants in the city, or office buildings but SF conventions, in Edmonton. But since nobody on this thread remembers that far back SF wise, it's probably not a good idea for me to bring up Edmonton Science Fiction and Comic Arts Society otherwise knows as ESFCAS, Ahem, it started it all. Just trying to keep the conversation going....

Lame isn't the word to describe it. When i got there it was just leaving the edge of the expo building itself, it stretched out to the race track I was told. I felt sorry for those who had to stand out there and find out it was sold out.

Lame isn't the word to describe it. When i got there it was just leaving the edge of the expo building itself, it stretched out to the race track I was told. I felt sorry for those who had to stand out there and find out it was sold out.

I had a feeling it would sell out, which is why I bought the weekend pass in advance. A good problem to have, which means it will get bigger and better as the one in Calgary.

I was having some technical issues with my phone, so I didn't get a chance to take as many pics as I wanted to. You'll see better pics on social media and mass media. Here's all I could get from today.

massive lineup for passes - it moved very quickly though

The DeLorean from Back to the Future...you buy a photo op with the car, and proceeds go towards the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research.

__________________“You have to dream big. If we want to be a little city, we dream small. If we want to be a big city, we dream big, and this is a big idea.” - Mayor Stephen Mandel, 02/22/2012

Seriously? Nobody remembers Non Con? 1978 here in Edmonton, George Takei, in his prime! I must be getting old.

George was at a con at the Edmonton Gardens in 1978 but it wasn't Non Con. I was a member of ESFCAS at the time and attended both. Non Con was in October at the Four Seasons. As a matter of fact, a friend recent found a picture of her, George and another friend outside the Canterbury Inn where we had dinner with George. We had helped with crowd control at the Gardens and got dinner as a thank you.

It wasn't as good as last year. I didn't see any sign of panels. Are they holding a costume dance like we had at Non Con? Are there door prizes? Is our "Expo" run by the same people that ran the Toronto Fan expo last month?

Seriously? Nobody remembers Non Con? 1978 here in Edmonton, George Takei, in his prime! I must be getting old.

George was at a con at the Edmonton Gardens in 1978 but it wasn't Non Con. I was a member of ESFCAS at the time and attended both. Non Con was in October at the Four Seasons. As a matter of fact, a friend recent found a picture of her, George and another friend outside the Canterbury Inn where we had dinner with George. We had helped with crowd control at the Gardens and got dinner as a thank you.

That would have been at Non Con 1 I believe but we also had it at the Edmonton Inn (Now Ramada) on Kingsway that one was in 1979, I was there. That was my first Con. Do you remember a fellow by the name of John Vrapshanack? <spelling? He was I think one of the original founding members of ESFACAS I like this Expo and I'm glad it's getting so big. Anyone have any attendance figures so far?

I know, last year we had Adam West, Billy Dee Williams, Nichole Nichols. I thought we had the Batmobile, Gil Girard, Stan Lee. I'm thinking of another con, sorry.Envaneo holds up fists in the air and shouts to the sky above: CONNNNNN!

Adam West didn't make it last year due to his health. Stan Lee hasn't been to Edmonton, and as for it being "almost as big as the Toronto Fan expo," they had 100,000 people in Toronto this year, while Edmonton had 15,000 last year.

It's a much bigger deal to get Karl Urban and Ron Perlman than Adam West and Gil Gerard. The former are working actors, while the latter are staples on the con circuit.

__________________They're going to park their car over there. You're going to park your car over here. Get it?

I didn't make the Expo this year due to huge volume of green tomatoes needing processing and lack of other time to do it. My son said it was awesome and I hope to go again next year. Very much enjoyed it last year.

I remember a lot of Noncons - heck, I even chaired one of them. Good times

It's a new sci-fi show filmed, produced and set in Canada being viewed globally.

Ahh, ok. I don't watch much TV, except for the evening news, CFL/some NFL, Oiler games if they're on a weekend, wrestling, and Doctor Who. I used to watch G4 when they had "Attack of the show." My wife usually hijacks the TV after the news. I'm on the computer most of the time. I don't play games.

I didn't make the Expo this year due to huge volume of green tomatoes needing processing and lack of other time to do it. My son said it was awesome and I hope to go again next year. Very much enjoyed it last year.

I remember a lot of Noncons - heck, I even chaired one of them. Good times

From what I've read here sounds like a good time. The next con here in Edmonton will be Pure Speculation, November 16-17 Ramada Conference Centre Edmonton. It's not as big as Edmonton Expo.

My first noncon was fun. I'm thinking about going to this one as it's at the Ramada on Kingsway. First time a sf con has been there since 1989!

I saw the Canadian Forces recruiters there on Saturday and after a look around, decided that a comic expo might not be the best place to do military recruiting.

No doubt. They're probably looking for that impressionable 17 year old saying "You want adventure?" join the army type thing. I wonder if they made any sales?

When looking for a job a while back, I noticed the Navy had techy-type jobs running computers, radars, and other technical equipment aboard ships. Someone with an armed forces background can confirm, but I suspect Navy types would have less physical fitment requirements then ground pounders, and that may be extra applicable to techy types.

Mind you, not all nerds are unqualified for the army. My fellow nerdy cousin was of average fitness level and had good eyesite (about the opposite of myself ). After working as military scientist at CFB Suffield, he got bit by the military bug, trained himself up physically, and joined the reserves, much to the surprise of his family (and chagrin of his mother ) Last time I checked, he was a captain in South Alberta Light Horse reserve in Medicine Hat. So, if a nerd puts his or her mind to it, they can join the army

With all the video games they play, I suppose a lot of people there would be highly qualified to sit at a control panel and fly robotic drones by remote control. I think it would be hard to find a generation of people who could do it better, actually.

Yeah one can buy some of the same swag from the local comic shops. But these conventions have these sellers carrying massive quantities of inventory who I presume only operate online or work the convention circuit. Some of the other booths sell rarities, collectibles and all that. Also the shopping for swag at a mass scale is part of the whole insane geeking out experience...not quite the same as browsing an empty shop with just the sales clerk and his buddy playing Magic: The Gathering at the till.

__________________“You have to dream big. If we want to be a little city, we dream small. If we want to be a big city, we dream big, and this is a big idea.” - Mayor Stephen Mandel, 02/22/2012